There are some countries that endorse Buck's worldview and intermix God and government -- Iran and Afghanistan under Taliban rule come to mind -- but they're generally not countries the United States tries to emulate.

"The problem is when hikers, bikers and dogs intermix," says Nick Hilbers , a 55-year-old hiker from Beaverton, Ore., who recently alerted local officials to an illegally made mountain-bike trail in a nearby city park.

Florian Hecker, BirminghamApart from a series of small speakers carefully positioned on thin metal rods throughout the space, there's not much to see in Florian Hecker's exhibition, an increasingly complex intermix of subtle sound sculptures.